A HOMECOMING event has been organised in honour of an award-winning Blackburn author.

Child Action Northwest is hosting the event for Josephine Cox to mark the publication of her 50th title, ‘The Runaway Woman’.

Josephine, who is the Wilpshire charity’s patron, will attend the ‘evening with’ event at the Thwaites Empire Theatre on Thursday, February 13.

Her life is now a far cry from when she met and married her husband Ken at the age of sixteen.

The couple had two sons and when the boys started school, Josephine decided to go to college. She gained a place at university but was unable to take it up as it would have meant living away from home.

She won the ‘Superwoman of Great Britain’ Award, for which her family had secretly entered her, at the same time as her novel was accepted for publication.

The number one best-selling author will also host a drop-in session at Blackburn Library from 10.30am to noon and an informal meeting with fans from noon to 1pm on the same day.

Child Action Northwest chief executive Sue Cotton said: “Since becoming a patron, Josephine has been a great asset to us. She has connected with our mission to help the most vulnerable families in this area because of her own family background and experience of poverty.

“She was the first person to purchase a copy of our new history book about Blackburn Orphanage, ‘James Dixon’s Children’, and wrote to us to say how delighted she was that the work of our founder had been recognised in this way.”

The evening, which begins at 7.30pm, includes slides from old Blackburn, a ‘question and answer’ session with the audience and, at Josephine’s request, some songs to take the audience down memory lane. For details, call 01254 685500.